news-and-notes/archive

Commissioners and staff from more than 10 counties attended the annual Risk Management Conference hosted by the Florida Association of Counties Trust (FACT), October 20-21. The conference offers free training for Trust participants from industry experts on risk management issues. Issues addressed at this year's conference included current topics in employment law, public records requests and violence in the workplace. Conference participants were also treated to a special guest presentation by legendary football coach Bobby Bowden who spoke about "Leading a Winning Team."

Mosquito control product and service provider, Clarke, has responded to the serious Zika public health threat by creating a unique public-private partnership model called the “Z-Kit.” The goal behind the effort is to help counties, municipalities, and mosquito abatement districts engage residents in the back yard Zika. This is the only way we will defeat Zika is by partnering with citizens and empowering them to take action.

In five short weeks, county commissioners and staff will be coming together to decide the 2017 legislative priorities for Florida's 67 counties. Make sure the voice of your county is heard and register today!
New Commissioner Workshop
A special shout out to: Citrus, Gulf, Martin and Polk counties for already registering newly elected commissioners to attend! There won't be a lot of time between swearing in and the conference so make sure to sign up your newly elected commissioners as soon as possible!

An Invitation to Members of the Florida Association of Counties
On November 17-18 in Orlando, Sayfie Review will host its fourth Florida Leaders Summit, a non-partisan event for Florida's top leaders, modeled after the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. This is your personal, non-transferable invitation to the Summit.

It’s that time of year again! Elections are coming and we need Commissioners who are willing to serve as mentors for our incoming Commissioners in November. We could have another large class of newly elected members joining us in November and it would be great if we could assign each newly elected Commissioner with a current FAC member willing to guide them through that first year. If you are interested in serving as an Ambassador for FAC for the coming year, please complete this form letting us know your preferences and we will add you to the list to be paired with an incoming newly elected commissioner.

K-12 schools in the United States spend more than $8 billion annually on energy. It is the second-highest operating expenditure for schools after personnel costs. By working with a partner to create an energy roadmap, schools can outline and prioritize solutions for an improved classroom environment. According to the U.S. Government Accountability Office, 15,000 schools across the nation are circulating unfit air. Find out how U.S. Communities partner Trane is helping local governments improve classroom environments using energy maps. Read more.

Recovery from the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew will likely to take weeks and months in counties along Florida’s east coast. FAC has a number of resources to assist counties impacted by the damaging effects of the storm. The Florida Local Government Finance Program (FLGFP) is one solution you can count on. Administered by FAC, FLGFP provides flexible, low-interest, short- to medium-term loans backed by tax exempt commercial paper.

FAC and Enterprise Partner Healthstat co-hosted an onsite employee health clinic tour last week in Polk County. The City of Lakeland employee clinic, managed by Healthstat, hosted four counties interested in learning more about how onsite employee clinics work. Representatives from Hillsborough, Sarasota, Highlands and Manatee counties attended the tour. In addition to the City of Lakeland, Polk County and the Polk County School District also have onsite employee clinics managed by Healthstat.